Sit-ups/crunches

[LinguistixDE]

Hey all,

I was told that sit-ups/crunches do close to nothing if you have a "belly" and that they are only beneficial if you have already lost the weight around your stomach. I was just looking for some more reliable sources to this inquiry: Do sit-ups/crunches benefit the the person doing them if they have a belly? Will they help shed the weight in that area?


Thanks a bunch in advance :sunny:

[Starblossom]

From what I understand, situps/crunches will strengthen your abs. But they won't make you lose fat. So although you could make your abs stronger and perhaps more prominent, you wont' see them if you have a layer of fat covering them up. You cannot remove fat from only one spot of your body. You need to do cardio to remove fat from all over your body.

Soo uh my point is... It is beneficial . . . there is no harm in strengthening your abs, in fact, strong abs are supposed to be a good support for your back. But if you're looking to have a six-pack, you'll need to do cardio as well, in order to remove any excess fat that is covering up those muscles.

[karenlovessnow]

I have been doing sit ups/crunches faithfully for two years....I have no doubt my muscles are pretty darn fit underneath the flab, but with the extra ten pounds I have on, you can't tell. Luckily I look good in clothes so the desire to lose the weight isn't all that strong for me. Speaking from personal experience, you will not lose the belly fat without dieting, exercise AND losing weight.

[veganmuncher]

Pardom my ignorance but what exactly is cardio exercise?

[ketivnilloc]

cardio is exercise that targets you cardio vascular system. That means your heart. It is where you do exercise that raises your heart rate.

[Tesseract]

IOW, it's activities that raise your heart rate and make you breathe hard. Theoretically, just about any exercise can do that if you work at it hard enough, but certain things like running, aerobics, swimming, dance, bicycling are usually considered cardio exercises. As opposed to strength training where you target specific areas.

[Vegan Joe]

Crunch, don't munch.:whip:

[RaferLivingston]

I think sit ups really help., it will help you building your abs...

its a nice early morning exercise :shy: :D